James South Biography

 
James South is a British astronomer, born in October 1785, to parents in Southwark, England. His father was a chemist, and first inspired South to become interested in the sciences. After becoming married to Charlotte Ellis, a wealthy daughter of statesmen, South gained the financial capital to begin pursuing astronomy. He built an observatory near his home and began his work intensely. He is most remembered for his participation and aid in finding the Astronomical Society of London in 1820, renamed in 1831 The Royal Astronomical Society. It was under his presidency of the society that they obtained a royal charter from William IV. The society was created to support astronomical research and succeeded in publishing quarterly scientific journals and papers which have greatly benefited astronomical knowledge. As a member of the Royal Society, South worked closely with John Herschel, whose father William Herschel initially found many of the known double stars, to catalogue 380 double stars from the very first observatory South built. Continuing his work alone, South observed an additional 458 double stars.
South was acknowledged with many titles and awards for his great work in astronomy, including the Copley Medal for his paper “On the Discordances between the Sun’s Observed and Computed Right Ascensions” and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1826. However, soon after he received those honors, South became involved in many disputes and conflicts within the society that led him to abandon his work and nearly leave Britain. In 1831 he was knighted, and gained the motivation to stay in Britain and continue his work.
Perhaps James South’s greatest achievement was his work on an equatorial-mount telescope. In 1826, he began his plans for a telescope that would be newer and larger than ever before. This telescope contained what would be the the largest achromatic object lens in the world, a 12-inch aperture lens which cost 1000 pounds. He planned to contain this telescope in a new observatory. The telescope was completed, then suddenly dismantled around 1838 because of a faulty mount, which led South to sue its manufacturer. South lost and the famously large lens was later put into a Grubb equatorial mount which functioned more accurately, and still remains to the current day. The stress of his last endeavor led South to give up his large work in astronomy. Continuing his work in the form of a hobby, South made small leaps such as observing Encke’s comet and Mauvais comet. He wrote more papers on his discoveries and observations, earning recognition from the Academy of Sciences in Brussels and Cambridge University. Craters on Mar and the Moon were named in his honor.
In his observatory on October 19th 1867, South passed away and his large collection of astronomical instruments were sold to collectors. His contributions to astronomy were influential and will always be remembered.